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The problems piling up at fast-fashion giant Shein
Regulatory probes and the ending of Customs loopholes pose big challenges, but its business model is highly resilient.
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The European Commission has opened a probe into the sale of “illegal products”, including child sex dolls on Shein.
PHOTO: EPA
William Langley, Adrienne Klasa and Barbara Moens
In November, several French ministers, a bevy of TV cameras and an army of Customs officers set up camp at Charles de Gaulle airport outside Paris to conduct a very public inspection of the contents of thousands of packages sent to France by fast-fashion giant Shein.
“In order to put a stop to a system that is clearly non-compliant with our standards and our tax laws, we need to have proof,” Budget Minister Amelie de Montchalin said at the time. Some 300,000 packages containing half a million items were eventually searched, with a quarter found to violate French or EU standards.
